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| - Greek police said an officer was seriously injured in the head as clashes broke out Tuesday evening at a protest of some 5,000 people in Athens against police violence. The demonstration follows an uproar over viral video footage showing an officer beating a man with a baton on Sunday during a patrol to check that people were following Covid-19 restrictions. An AFP photographer at the scene of Tuesday's protest said clashes broke out after a group of around 200 masked protesters headed towards the police station in Nea Smyrni, the calm Athens suburb where Sunday's beating had taken place. The demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at a police station and police responded with tear gas and water cannon, AFP reported. Around a dozen dustbins were set on fire, prompting firefighters to intervene. Police said the injured officer had been rushed to hospital. TV footage from the ANT1 channel showed that he had been dragged off his motorbike by protesters and then beaten. Journalists and photographers at the scene also came under attack by the protesters. Police said they had arrested some demonstrators even before the clashes broke out for possession of Molotov cocktails and iron bars. According to the police, around 5,000 people overall had joined the protest against alleged police brutality, some holding banners which read "cops out of our neighbourhoods" and "parks are for laughing, not for hearing the words 'I'm in pain'". The latter was a reference to the viral video footage showing a young man shouting "I'm in pain" as he was beaten Sunday at the Nea Smyrni square, a popular spot for family gatherings. Onlookers can be heard in the footage expressing outrage at the police officer behaving this way in front of their children. Police said they had been called to Nea Smyrni on Sunday after receiving numerous complaints about people violating Covid rules, and that they had been attacked at the scene by "30 people who injured two of our agents" -- a claim local residents have denied. Prosecutors have ordered a preliminary investigation into the beating, according to a legal source. Police have also opened an internal probe into the office filmed hitting the man. A legal source said Tuesday that 11 people detained during Sunday's incident were being investigated for assault, verbal insults, and violations of Covid-19 restrictions. The Efsyn newspaper published an interview Tuesday with the 29-year-old man who was beaten, identifying him as a student named Alexandros. He told the paper that police had wanted to fine families 300 euros ($360) for sitting on the square, and that he had tried to reason with the officers. "A policeman then came towards me and targeted me," Alexandros told Efsyn. "He pushed me and then the other officers kicked me all lover my body." Greek media and campaigners have expressed outrage in recent months over numerous high-profile cases of alleged police brutality at student and left-wing protests. mr-kan-chv/kjl/spm
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